New Orleans Saints Running Back Latavius Murray
Video Call with New Orleans Media
Monday, October 5, 2020

How much do you and Alvin (Kamara) sort of feed off of each other, especially when you're kind of rolling like you were yesterday?
"I think a lot. I think, obviously, you know, being the two backs in the running back room, we want to, we take responsibility to allow the offense you know, possibly to, you know, jumpstart through us or to, you know, make a play to get us going. So, I think we both know how important that is. And so we definitely feed off each other's energy, feed off each other, playmaking and constantly communicating, off the sideline and on and off the field. So it's helped a lot definitely, us two communicating and just trying to compete. They're trying to compete, he's trying to make plays, I'm trying to make plays. I think that's what it's all about."

When you look back on yesterday's game today and look at the film, what do you think contributed to the success that both you and Alvin were able to have in the running game?
"I really felt the vision was there and I felt we were real patient knowing how their front plays and their backers play. They're not a real downhill, penetration defense, so we knew we just had to be a little more patient with the holes and to hit it. That helped a lot. We knew that going into it and I think we stuck with that."

How much does it open things up when Drew Brees connects downfield like he was yesterday? How much does that open things up for you and Alvin Kamara?
"It opens things up a lot. Obviously when we throw the ball down the field, we are able to keep defenses on their toes. If we run the ball efficiently, the sky's the limit for what we can do."

Drew said yesterday's offensive performance was the closed to what you guys expect to do? Is that your feeling as well?
"Yes, I think that was a good showing and now it's about being consistent, putting a series of those game back to back to back. Saying we were happy with the outcome, winning first, we did some good things on both sides of the ball in all phases of the game. I think coming off the field we knew we could be better and we have to be better for where we want to go. It was a good time to get a win. That's why you play the game. It's definitely something to build off of in all three phases. I know offensively it felt good to put that many points on the board and move the ball down the field like we were."

When you were watching the film yesterday after the game, was it noticeable how the offensive line was playing?
"They were moving guys, they were putting hats on guys. Their defensive front is a little different. They were moving guys. They were giving us opportunities. I've always been taught when you can get the running back to the line of scrimmage clean or to the linebackers, they've done their job and the rest is up to you. We had a lot of those opportunities yesterday."

With the whole false positive issue, did you miss out on a bunch of sleep?
"I went right back to sleep (after getting re-tested) thankfully. When I heard the banging (on hotel room door to re-test), I definitely thought something was wrong. Beau (Lowery) had a sad look on his face, but we got the testing out of the way hoping for the best, hoping I wouldn't hear back and I didn't. Fortunately the game was still on and we went out there and did what we had to do. This season was a little different and will be a little different moving forward and I think the teams that embrace that, understand that, I think they'll be just fine. I think we handled it well."

How much sleep do you typically receive before a noon central game and how much sleep did you get Saturday night?
"I was in bed by 10. I'm an early bird and just like we talked about (with young kids), I try to get in bed early, but I'm up early, so I think I was out by 10 and heard the banging on my door at 12:40, close to 1. Beau said he called but I was deep (sleep). Luckily I feel right back asleep and woke up around 7, 7:30, 8, something like that. It didn't really affect me. I know some of those guys couldn't get back to sleep. I was fortunate for that."

You guys touched on wanting to find more consistency. The next phase with that is development in the season is getting more consistent. What are you looking to improve on this week?
"Again, just improving. There are things we can clean up from yesterday. There's still learning, growing, correcting those mistakes and then building off of the success we had. That's how you put some runs together and that's what we want to do. We go in there to win every time. Hopefully we just stack some wins as we head into this next quarter of the season or at least end up 3-2 before this bye week. The next one is important. That's what we want to do. Build off the win, the things we did well and make corrections."

Do you think there will be anything normal this season, going back to Saturday night and the fact the Patriots are headed to the airport now to fly to Kansas City?
"You can be surprised, but just as quick as you are surprised you have to embrace it. That's what everybody signed up for this year. We wanted to have a season, we just wanted to go about it the right way, safely and be able to play and make sure we are doing all the things to be safe. There's no complaining. We still have a job to go out there and play. We'll handle the different scenarios with the testing and protocols, knowing that all those things hopefully keep each other safe. At the end of the day it's just about winning and we're trying to focus on that."

You guys had time of possession of about 36 minutes yesterday. How important is it go to on those long extended drives like that?
"When we can go down the field like that and keep the ball out a pretty good quarterback's hands, that's important and then if we can throw in the time of possession, we're marching the ball down the field most likely. I think all those things are positives and things to build on. When we do have the ball, marching down the field, making sure we finish with points, touchdowns preferably, taking care of the ball. The time of possession if we're using it the right way is a big positive and so I think that's another thing we'd like to build on moving forward."